New York State Adjutant General's Office Description of New York State Militia by Location

Volume 1, circa 1846: Generally arranged by unit type (cavalry, artillery, infantry, and riflemen), then numerical by division, brigade, and regiment.

Volume 2, circa 1852-1857: Numerical by division, then by brigade, then by regiment.

These two volumes describe New York State Militia units by location during the 1840s and 1850s. The first volume is divided into three sections. The first section, organized by unit type (cavalry, artillery, infantry, and riflemen) and then numerically by brigade, provides the following information about each brigade: location within the state; regiments that comprise the brigade; and communities covered by each regiment. The second section, dated 1846, is organized by unit type and then numerically by division and brigade. This section provides the following information: division and brigade commanders' names (brigade commanders are given for infantry units); regiments that comprise the brigade (not given in all instances); communities that make up each regiment (not given in all instances); and number of companies that comprise each regiment (not given in all instances).

It is likely that this section was generated in response to Chapter 270 of the Laws of 1846, which stipulated that all able-bodied white male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five in the state be enrolled in the militia by the commanding officer of the company district in which they resided. The law, furthermore, divided the state into military division districts, by population, and required that the boundaries of each were to be described and "published and filed in the adjutant-general's office and transcribed into a book to be kept for that purpose." The third section of the volume, entitled "Local Description of the Military Brigades under the Law of 1846," provides a breakdown, arranged numerically by brigade, of the geographic locations covered by each brigade.

The second volume, dated circa 1852-1857, provides similar information as the first, and is arranged numerically by division, then by brigade, and then by regiment. Entries describing a division generally provide the following information: brigades that comprise the division; counties covered by the division; commandant's name; and various notes or remarks. Entries describing a brigade generally provide: regiments that comprise the brigade; counties and towns covered by the brigade; commandant's name; and various notes or remarks. Entries describing a regiment generally provide: counties and towns covered by the regiment; various notes or remarks (not given in all instances); and company districts covered by the regiment (not given in all instances). Notes and remarks often reference specific general orders of the Adjutant General that apply to the units being described.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.